Fujimoto & Granmammare's Story
by Lithe-Fider
Summary: Many years before a little red fish fell in love with a human boy, there was another ocean dweller whose eye was caught by a human. No less than Great Mother Ocean herself, and an unusual boy who wanted nothing more than to be at the ocean's side...
1. Chapter 1

**Fujimoto and Granmammare's Story**

_Ponyo characters © 2008 Miyazaki_

I do not own the Ponyo characters, this is a fanfic and for non profit fan enjoyment, and because the writing muse in my head wouldn't shut up. :'D I hope you enjoy this interpretation my friend and I thought up of how things went before _Ponyo_.

Chapter 1

Many years before a white bellied, red-scaled fish named Ponyo fell in love with a human boy, there was another ocean dweller whose eye was caught by a human. No one less than the Great Mother Ocean, or _Granmammare,_ herself…and a strange boy who wanted nothing more than to be at the ocean's side…

...

"Mother, our class is going on a field trip," An orange-red haired boy nervously handed his mother a piece of paper with a blank asking for a signature.

"To where…" His mother looked at the scrap, "Aquarium?" She frowned, looking down at him, "Why would they take you to such a place, the ocean is filled with nothing but trouble, there's no need for your school to get young minds interested in such a dangerous place."

Fujimoto looked down; he very much wanted to go on the trip. He liked water creatures and the ocean, but even though their home was only a 20 minute train ride from the Japanese coastline, he had never seen the ocean with his own eyes, nor had he ever been swimming. His mother, since he was little, drilled into his head that all the ocean does is take, kill, and cause trouble – in her words '_**Suijin**_-_sama_ has never done us any favors'. She had never liked the sea, but became _hateful _of it when Fujimoto's father died at it's hands.

She always thought her husband would be killed in the war, the same war that ended when their old city was bombed by the most devastating attack known to man. An attack that by the graces of _Kami_ they were not in because they had moved closer to the coast to be near her husband's military base. But the naval officer that was Fujimoto's father, and all the men in his troop, died simply in a tsunami that broke their ship in two. A dishonorable,random death for once great men of war.

"I'm not signing this," She handed back the paper.

Fujimoto was angry. Just because his mother was scared of the sea, why must he be barred from it? HE wasn't afraid or hateful of it. Even if it took his father, if _kami_ thought it was his time it was his time, he understood that. He was more afraid of his fellow 2nd graders than an expanse of water -_they__ were something to be feared, _he thought, with the teasing he endured.

So he forged her signature.

His teacher could tell right away, and scolded him for it.

Fujimoto cried and whimpered, telling about his mother and how his father died and how much he just wanted to see the ocean. His teacher's face softened. She knew how this child was not good with the other children, and for him to be so fervent about something was unusual. She also had not known about his circumstances.

She made him promise never to tell his mother she let him go on the trip.

Never had he been so happy. The other children had to drag him way from every tank, each one more wondrous than the last. He had seen pictures in books but never in movement (for his mother had sold their TV for money after their father died, and TV was a very new thing and not even in color.) The colors, the shapes, the variety! So many otherworldly creatures! The beauty of the water, the sea plants – it was inspiring. He listened intently to every word their young tour guide said about the animals and plants, while other kids wandered off and talked to each other.

After that day, the most marvelous of his whole young life, he knew what the wanted to do when he grew up.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It was the spring of his 10th birthday. His mother said he needed to get a part time job to help earn income for their small 2-person family . There were not many jobs he could apply for being so young, and every one of them turned him away as soon as he came in for an interview. He was just...strange. He was not good with people, and was always staring off into space. However, it was especially his hair; that unearthly red-orange color, combined with his lanky almost sickly look - that warded them off.

Some thought him the child of a _Hyōsube_ (hair covered _kappa), a Shōjō_ (red-haired sea sprite) or worse an_ Oni_. Not to mention he was born just a week after the attack on Hiroshima, and seemed fascinated with the ocean, thus making such superstitious beliefs all the more fueled. It was the main vehicle for his out casting in school; all the kids would throw things at him and call him various _kaiju_ names. Now it was keeping him from getting work, in that the employers thought he might bring bad spirits or a curse upon their workplace.

Without his mother's knowledge he sent a letter to a place advertising for young workers – a cleanup service at the beachfront.

He was delighted when they called back…

…however it was his mother who picked up the phone.

"WHAT? No - there must be a mistake my son can't work at the beach. You see he can't swim and would be nothing but a bother to you."

Fujimoto called out so the man on the other end of the phone could hear, but his mother picked him up forcefully and threw him into the other room - locking the door. He pounded on the door, continuing to yell.

"As you can see he is completely unstable."

When his mom let him out after hanging up, Fujimoto ran by her and up to his room - slamming the door. _Why are people so cruel...? _ He sobbed into his bed.

Little did she know he had overhead the voice on the other end before he had been unceremoniously tossed. The voice had said for him to come in for an interview that weekend at 5:00 pm.

He snuck out and took the train to the beach so he could make the meeting, using some money he'd saved. He tried to sink into the background of all the hollow eyed, soulless looking people on the train. His heart raced with anticipation.

A tall, sun burnt man with a toothpick in his mouth greeted him as he walked onto the windswept wooden boardwalk that led to the beach. He introduced himself as Kashi, not that Fujimoto was making eye contact with him. As he was giving a funny look to Fujimoto's hair, the boy was busy looking at the ocean behind him.

"Tch you look like you've never seen the ocean before," the man joked.

"I…I haven't!" The boy said back.

"N…never? And you live so close to shore?" Kashi looked so shocked his toothpick nearly fell from his mouth.

"It's so…big!"

"Well…yea," the man laughed.

Fujimoto took another minute of staring then he looked up right into the man's eyes before bowing deeply, "Please sir - take me for this job!"

_I've never seen someone so eager to pick up trash before…_ Kashi thought with a nervous look.

"I'll work harder than anyone else!"

"…If you are that keyed up then sure, I need another kid. The pay isn't very good but-"

"I'll work after hours for free!"

"I already said you had the job..." Kashi gave a funny look.

...

Despite all her anger at him when Fujimoto came in later that night, they DID need the money. No one else would hire him at that point in time.

So his mother let him keep the job.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was a very rich area, the shoreline. It was a popular spot for tourists and rich business men. It was also a port city – the bay was filled with ships not too far off down the sandy coastline. You could see them from the spot on the beach where they were. Tankers, cargo ships, fisherman, naval ships going to the base around the bay's hooked corner. It was busy with human activity.

He didn't see it when he was there last, as he was so excited just to see the ocean for the first time, but the beach (and the entire city) was actually quite polluted. Factories made the air smoggy in city limits, their run off going directly into the river inlet estuary. The air was clear by the beach, the sweet smell of the ocean's high winds blowing it away. But trash was thrown everywhere, washed up onto the tide lines, a thin film of rainbow-tinged oil clinging to the rocks at the ends of the beach line. It made Fujimoto's heart sink. How could people treat such a beautiful place this way?

However, then he felt a feeling of purpose, as it was his job to help clean it up! He'd have done it for _free_, but in that he could be out here with his mother not being able to do anything about it because he was earning money – that made it all the better.

He worked harder than all the other workers - there are only three of them anyway, too few for such a large beachfront. Working spring through fall for two summers, the beach was cleaned up to a state people hadn't seen in years – mostly due to just one boy's hard work. His greatest accomplishment was a serum that cleared up the oils in the water – the thin oil run off from the city. It was something he played with in science class in school, they had a soap that dissolved oil, but he combined it (quite ingeniously of course) with some algae he found in clear spots of tide pools. The modified algae ate away at the thin oils quickly and made them into harmless natural substances.

Such genius went unnoticed by his classmates and boss of course. One evening in summer he was working after hours as usual, checking the water clarity. He still could not swim; none of his co workers had the patience to help him learn, and teased "What - the little _Hyōsube_ can't even swim?" so he could only go as far out as he could walk.

It was at this same moment, the great mother of all _Suijin_ was swimming by the Japanese shoreline. She was always patrolling the oceans of the world, keeping balance of the life in the sea. However, with all the trouble man had been causing recently, her job had gotten almost more than she could handle. The one certain area she was swimming past in Japan had been a place of death and disappoint for many, many years. She expected to see no difference on this passing.

However, she stopped in her tracks, shocked by how…_nice_ the area looked. Surly, not pristine but...an improvement. As if someone put their _heart_ into caring for it. The ocean goddess strayed slower to shore, curious to see what happened. She disguised herself as seal and peeked up out of the water. Instantly a young human caught her attention out of the crowds of people; perhaps it was his brightly colored hair, but also he had a certain air about him that was different. He was checking the water quality, and adding something to it that was clearing it up.

She hung around Japan, watching the boy for weeks disguised as sea animals. He didn't talk much to other humans, and seemed to love the ocean very much, despite never straying far from shore. She watched in amusement as he tried to swim and almost drowned himself_, I guess he can't swim?_ She thought. He collected shells from the tide lines on the shore that he arranged in little rows in the tide pools like tiny _**Suijin **_shrines. He even once fell asleep too close to the water line at low tide and was awoken a few hours later with water in his face.

It was nearing the end of summer, and the ocean goddess decided she had to meet this human face to face. However, it was not considered kosher for _Suijin_ to talk directly to humans. She disguised herself as a young girl around the age of the human boy (12 years old).

Fujimoto was working into the evening putting up signs that read 'Don't Litter!' and flyers reminding people 'Leave nesting Sea Turtles alone!', when a girl with flowing pink-red hair waltzed right up past him. He stopped, and stared at her quizzically. All the tourists had gone home for the day, the beach was empty. She was looking around the beach with a smile.

"The shore looks so much nicer than I remember it!" She exclaimed with a soft tone, looking out to the water.

He swallowed and wondered if she was talking to him. As there was no one else around he figured it must be him, so he replied finally, "Oh?"

She turned and looked at him, her hair in that moment looking like it was in slow-motion. She looked at him a bit shyly but not with the fear everyone else gave him, "I came here every summer with my family when I was a little girl. We visited again this summer for the first time in many years…and it looks so nice now!" She made up a story in a way he could understand and would not reveal her true nature.

He smiled; feeling reassured by her words, "Yea it used to look quite awful, I remember. I am on a beach cleanup unit; we work on cleaning it up." He walked towards her putting away his flyers and hammer in his messenger bag.

"Thank you so much!" she beamed.

He was taken aback, no one in his two years of work every said 'thank you' to him directly. No one cared, except this one random girl who came out of nowhere.

"You have a name?" She asked, "My name is Mamare."

_A western name,_ he thought. "Fujimoto," he replied and bowed. "Are you from the west?"

"Yes, I am." She nodded cheerfully.

_I guess I did not catch her accent at first,_ he thought. As he was thinking the girl walked off to the surf and dipped her bare toes in it; her light blue sundress almost getting wet in the waves. He followed after her, leaving his bag on the sand, and stood with his feet in the water watching the sun dipping lower to the horizon.

They talked until sunset. He told her all about how he posted signs to the people not to bring glass to the beach, and put out garbage cans to try and encourage people NOT to just throw it in the water. He then told her how he developed an elixir to eat the oil and how he stayed late every day (unpaid after hours) to clean it up. He grumbled about how now one seemed to care and they still throw trash all over despite all he did.

"…don't even get me started on the factories up the river inlet near by," He said, almost going off on a rant, "I am not pleased with how the people treat nature in this area – AH look at me going off like that…please forgive me." He smiled a little nervously.

The water goddess listened intently; he talked with wisdom beyond his years.

She visited every evening for the next two weeks. They talked and she helped him do his work, despite him telling her she didn't have to. One of the evenings she came in a bathing suit (think mid-50's style), and offered to go swimming with him. He answered with embarrassment, "I can't swim…my mom never taught me when I was little, and none of my co workers would assist me because they teased me saying 'A _Hyōsube _who can't swim is a thing of disgrace'."

She giggled at the other boys calling him a river monster, _he does have wild reddish hair to his shoulders, but it is more close to the color of a Shōjō monster than a Hyosube_…_and it would have to be longer to look like a __Suijin__,_ she thought with amusement.

And so over the course of just a few days she taught him how to swim. It was like magic, Fujimoto thought. Being taught by the goddess of the ocean made for quick learning – he just thought she was a good teacher. He thanked her a thousand times over, and she just laughed, "Just don't swim out too far or a real _Shōjō _might eat you."

…

And then one day she didn't come.

Fujimoto found a note left in a conch shell like a message in a bottle. It said,

"I am sorry I had to leave with my family. Thank you for everything. If it pleases you I'd want to spend time with you again, I should be back next summer. I'll look for you in the same place. Good luck with your work._ Sincerely, Mamare"_

In reality she had to go about the ocean working to keep balance once again. She had been in one place too long, but had stayed as long as she could with things as they were.

Fujimoto lifted the note to his face, the paper smelled like sweet seaweed. He smiled with eyes closed and sat in the sand for a while watching the waves. Next summer could not come faster for the young man.

He brought the shell home. Much to his disappointment his mother found it in his room, and yelled at him, "You brought home something from the sea?! You trying to put a curse on this house? I told you that you could work there if you kept the ocean AWAY from this house!" She threw the shell outside and into a dumpster.

He fished it out when she wasn't looking, this time hiding it in his room more discreetly.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Mamare kept her word and visited the human boy for the next three years when the warm waters of summer washed into the coastline.

Over that period of time she saw how much he loved the ocean and how much he wanted to study and protect the creatures in it. However, his mother would never let him as long as he was living under her care. He told her when he was a man he would leave home and go out to sea. He didn't even know how he'd get the money to do so or the education to even be hired for such a thing, but it was his dream. Away from the horrid crowded city, the trash, the smells, and the soulless people. He talked a lot of doom, gloom, and hatred for his fellow man with a soggy expression - but in reality his heart was kind, he was just bitter for most people's uncaring.

She also found herself taking a liking to him. Young as he was he was caring and eager for knowledge. Fujimoto felt equally so about her, she was pretty much his only friend – the only one who understood him. Those two weeks of each summer could never come fast enough - and seemed to last forever like a dream. She herself was like a daydream, with strange hair like his and this otherworldly feeling to her. He began thinking maybe she was a spirit of some kind. He just hoped she was of the good kind if she was. It didn't matter; all the kids thought he was a _yokai_ of some sort anyway, if he was to make friends with one so be it.

…

It was not long after he said goodbye to Mamare for the fourth time, in the summer of his 15th birthday, that there was an incident at the beach. A girl got sucked out by a rip tide, and it was after hours so no life guards were on duty. The only person around was Fujimoto and the other cleaning crew.

Jumping out into the waves without thinking he went after her to help her. Everyone ran out after him thinking he would drown himself, and they had not seen that he had learned how to swim and was quite good by now at it (having a years of practice). He tried to help her but the current was just _too_ strong.

Luckily for them all, Mammare was still hanging around the shore. The merciful ocean goddess pushed the girl towards a fishing boat with a current. Fujimoto was left looking helpless by the shore – but was relieved to see the fishermen picking her out of the sea. He got angry at himself for not being able to do more – in that he was such a strong swimmer now and has all these inventions he used to help out and yet he had nothing to help the girl.

Mammere saw his despair, and decided at that moment, that she would begin giving him magic.

Humans are not capable of true magic – one could not be truly human and use magic at the same time, it would upset the balance of nature. She knew if she was to give him power, powers that could fulfill his wishes to explore the ocean, help it, and be one with its element, that he would eventually have to choose to give up his humanity. A choice for later, but one she had to be sure he might say yes to – there was no point in giving magic to someone who was too tied to the land or it's people. She could see that his love for the ocean was sincerely in his heart.

If she gave him power gradually, in that he would absorb it while at the ocean, it would not upset nature if he was worthy of the magic. If he was unfit for it, the magic would dissipate into the waters like sea foam.

She left to come back the next year, leaving the magic in the water for him to find.

…

By the end of Spring the next year after his 16th birthday, Fujimoto began to feel…different.

He first knew something was different when he was out swimming, and was caught by a large wave that tumbled him. Instead of coming up with a mouthful of sand, rocks, and water up his nose, he was unscathed. Reaching up to his face as he crawled up on shore, he felt a pop like a bubble bursting. He blinked, startled, hair fuzzing slightly. Getting his bearings he went back out to the water and ducked his head under, opening his eyes, and found he could _see_. And later a few moments he found he could _breathe too_. Again, he reached up - and found situated around his head was a bubble, like one would see a child blowing from a bottle, only it's skin was firmer like plastic. Trying hard he could poke his hand through it but it did not pop while underwater.

When he came up to the surface it stuck like surface tension, and popped if he stood up. He tried to see if he could make a bubble not around his head, and instead found he could pick up spheres of water like baseballs, although not contained in anything.

Continuing to play and explore these things he was finding, he kept them a secret from everyone.

…

"You look awful," his mother wrinkled her nose at him as he came home late as usual.

Fujimoto gave her a look, and sarcastically said, "Thank you….?"

"No really, are you sleeping well? Are you sick?" She put her hand to his forehead. His skin was unnaturally dry.

"I'm sleeping fine," He drew away from her touch.

"Also cut your hair - it's getting awfully long. You aren't going to attract any girls with it like that, you already look like a _**yōkai **_as it is."

"It's my hair," He frowned at her, and grumbled under his breath about how he could do with it as he pleased. Ignoring the rest of her banter he walked upstairs.

He packed up his things and went to the bathhouse. He was going more often then he used to – he went every day during the days he was not working at the beach now. His skin felt like it needed more _moisture_ than usual somehow. He tried some crèmes from the market but nothing helped – just being wet did. He figured it was because he was in the water so much those past two-some years, perhaps he was developing some kind of condition…he shrugged since he planned to be near water his whole life anyway so it was not something he found troublesome.

If anything he was getting a tolerance to water – he didn't prune up like other people did – he could be in the water for hours with no problems. Also his hair and skin dried quicker than everyone's– as if he couldn't get _truly_ soaked. He would have just attributed this to building a tolerance, but it applied to whatever _clothes_ he was wearing at the time as well.

Fujimoto didn't know it, but the magic Mammare had been seeding him was causing the gradual changes. With every drop of sea magic he was taking in, a drop of humanity was flowing out.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Since he was able to stay underwater seemingly indefinitely using his powers, Fujimoto wanted to explore further underwater around the bay. He took some of his saved money to buy a used pair of diving flippers.

Standing on the shore in the dimming evening of a Monday (the beach's least busy day) Fujimoto made sure no one was around to see him disappear and never come out from the waves. He waded into the water holding the flippers. Once he was out far enough he floated and slipped them on, ducking his head under the water. Pushing his hair out of his face he made sure he formed the diving bubble around his head properly, then with some kicks he swam forward. _The speed,_ he marveled, _why didn't I ever buy flippers before?_ He felt like a sea creature himself as he got used to using the devices, swimming out farther than he's gone before to that point. He didn't realize it but he was also using a little bit of magic to increase his swimming speed.

Mimicking a dolphin's method of motion, he swam out around the head of the levy of rocks on the shore's side. He smiled as he darted through a school of sand colored fish, and marveled at a colony of sea urchins that encompassed an underwater field of rocks. However, as he hugged the shoreline the ever evident traces of man were everywhere. As he drew closer to the ship yard an overwhelming sight hit him. It was amazing he could see through all the churned up, trash-encrusted silt – everywhere were bits of human garbage, and the animals who fell to them. Decaying seabirds with necks caught in bottle rings, fish and sea turtles in driftnets, beer bottles, cigarette butts, fishing line…He looked around helplessly.

His sadness soon grew to a bitter anger – towards his own kind_. How can they do such things, and how can I be a part of it? No I'm not a part of such horrible things_ – _I am different than all of __them __- if I had to choose to be associated with the likes of them and not be called human than I'd gladly revoke the title! _

He turned, hair flicking with anger as he swam emotionally fueled out to open sea. He didn't know where he was going – just away, as far away from shore as possible. _I want to see something __pure__, something unspoiled by man,_ was what he was thinking.

He eventually fatigued and slowed, eyes closing and panting for breath. His eyes were opened by the sudden feeling of something swimming past his shoulder. A tuna fish - three times the size of him! He looked towards the lighter water above lit by the sun's rays – and through the rays he could see the rest of its school – over a 100 of them, just as big or larger. He smiled in awed satisfaction. He swam further and found swarms of jellyfish, rolling seaweed forests, underwater seascapes of small mountains, schools of in numerous types of fish – not a smell of oil anywhere, not a bottle on the seafloor, just...the ocean. All track of time was lost to Fujimoto – hours passed like minutes.

He was so excited in his wonderment that he failed to notice how _tired_ he really was. His eyelids grew heavy and suddenly a wave of dizziness crashed over him – he had exhausted what little magic he had inside him. His head swimming, the bubble dissipated - and he was nowhere near the surface or the shore. Lungs filling with water he passed out and fell limp to the sandy ocean floor.

Luckily for Fujimoto, it was late summer, and Mammare was hanging around the Japanese coastline. She instantly sensed him the moment he had swam into open water – and had been watching him intently – taking joy in his child-like wonderment of seeing the open sea for the first time. With the quickness of wind she whisked him back towards the shore. Where he was cupped in her hands she made the water fill with magic and oxygen so he was able to breathe the water like air. He was still unconscious though – completely drained.

She shrank herself down to humanoid size and splashed up on shore with a wave. When the water rolled back out it left behind a waterlogged man on his back with a glistening woman over him. He coughed up the water hoarsely and took in breaths of fresh air - it brought him around slightly. His hair, which he had slowly been growing out over the years, was a tangled mess strewn over his face and nose – with no magic in him, he was as wet as any human.

Not fully awake he moaned in a delirious tone to no one, "Why'd you bring me back…why…_*cough*_ …to all this death and _*cough* _disease…"

She looked upon him with an expression of sadness for his troubled state. However, she heard footsteps coming up the sand. In the distance people were approaching. It was Kashi and two of Fujimoto's coworkers. Mammare looked down upon him one last time, and he opened his eyes as slits. He made out the blurry image of a woman over him, before she vanished out of his field of view as a wave crashed over him.

She darted back into the water with the wave, seamlessly disappearing. The men who ran up could have sworn they saw someone from the distance, but her form was so water-like that her appearing and disappearing in waves made her seem like nothing but such.

…

Fujimoto awoke again, this time he was at home on his living room couch_. I must have passed out again after washing up on shore…_He thought, his head throbbing. He rubbed a thin hand over his gaunt face, his fingers cracking to reveal a worried onlooker, who soon turned to a very displeased mother looking down at him.

"Fujimoto! You know how worried sick I was?"

_You are sick anyway,_ he thought, thinking of how her health had gone downhill the past year – due to the awful condition of the town they were in and the chemicals she must have been exposed to.

"I…I'm sorry." He said weakly.

"Where were you last night?"

"I…I must have gotten lost while swimming."

"ALL night? You missed school today!" She replied to the nose sticking up from the mass of red-orange hair.

He couldn't think of a good reply, so he sighed, which made him cough.

"Uhhh," His mother put a hand to her face with a shake of the head, she was getting very flustered, "You can't do this to me! I don't even know what is wrong with you anymore! You look like heck ever since you started going to that beach and you just look tired all the time!" she raised her voice.

"…Mother, calm down…"

"That's it you are NEVER going back to that job _or_ that beach – it's doing something to you - _*cough cough COUGH*_!" her sentence ended in a fit of coughing.

Before Fujimoto could think of responding he heard a _thunk_ against the floor and was yelling to the neighbors for help…


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_Heart failure_ is what the doctors told him.

Despite all his hatred for his mother, and all she had for him, she was still his mother.

And Fujimoto mourned her loss at the temple…

...briefly.

However, his mourning was quickly replaced with a light feeling– _he was free._

_Now if only I could be free of my fellow man_, he mused grimly, _man's waste and disease killed my mother. It's disgusting how they poison not only life around them but also themselves. _

Being almost 17 (he would be in the coming spring), and the only living relative, he was able to inherit his mother's few belongings and their house. He promptly sold the house, and convinced his employer of now almost 7 years to let him rent out a room at his (already small and falling apart) shack. He also asked if he could rent out a shed he had on the beachfront for the warmer months - and that he'd live there during those times so he'd be out of his way. Kashi said it was not meant for someone to live in it – but Fujimoto held firm. He certainly knew by now the young man was not your normal weirdo – and with little convincing he agreed.

He awaited seeing when his pink-haired friend would arrive…

But she never did.

Mammare stayed away that year, after seeing how troubled Fujimoto had been – she worried if she was doing him harm, and felt perhaps…it might be good for him to spend some time to himself. He was accepting her magic well, so she was not worried for his spirit. Soon she would have to confront him anyway – for him to make the final choice…

Fujimoto was out everyday watching the sands, hoping she was just late. He accepted perhaps her family didn't come that summer - and he embroiled himself in his studies as a method of distraction. Fixing up the tool shed over the fall, he made it a work studio of sorts.

Kashi watched with an upturned eyebrow at the strange young man, who even in the dead of winter would walk out on the beach barefoot wrapped in a blanket, dipping his toes in the ice cold water as snowflakes got caught in his bright windswept hair.

He looked otherworldly – Kashi would have been worried that people might think the beach was cursed by _Shōjō _spirits, but they were so accustomed to Fujimoto working there by now, that they were used to the sight of a fiery haired figure on the shoreline. That didn't stop Kashi from getting tingly superstitious chills seeing him out there – he made more visits to the _Suijin _shrine to pray, for good measure.

Even though it was cold outside, Fujimoto had never felt more alive. Being at the ocean's side 24 / 7, he felt invigorated; breathing that salty air, feeling the sticky sea breeze, waking up on a foggy morning to watch the sun rise over the water. It was wonderful, purely wonderful.

He seldom talked or interacted with Kashi despite living with him – the sun-burned man hadn't expected a companion out of Fujimoto, he 'knew' him better than that. As long as he made rent and bought his own food, he could go skinny-dipping for all Kashi cared (as long as it wasn't during when he could scare away customers, he mused). Though he did wish the boy didn't use his bathtub so much all winter - he sometimes was in there for hours.

Now all Fujimoto had to do was wait for spring.

As soon as winter melted away, he was out in the water.

Like a wound toy waiting to be released, all his pent up energy and excitement fueled his exploration hunger – and having stockpiled magic all winter, he had plenty of energy to do so. Making sure to stay away from the congested shoreline, he kept to the clearer open waters. He had to buy a new pair of flippers – the others had been lost when he passed out at sea.

Feeling a sense of purpose he took waterproof pads out with him and wrote notes and drew sketches of the life he saw.

On one of his dives far out from shore Fujimoto found a ship wreck wedged in an underwater ravine. Swimming carefully inside he discovered an ancient looking rock chest. Too heavy to physically move, he formed some water into a darker and denser medium which he was able to send out and knock off the flat lid. Inside a vase/container floated up. It looked sacred somehow, with the way it was made and the markings on its tall, thin neck. Around it were a few other's like it, but they were all were broken into a million pieces. With how it was light enough to float it must have had trapped air inside – which meant it was sealed.

Taking the one intact container back with him to shore, he chipped barnacles off the top of it and found it was tightly corked . He shook it and heard a small sloshing of liquid, perhaps whatever was inside was not just seawater. With some effort (and a cut finger) he got the cork out. A salty / sweet smell wafted up from the mouth of the bottle.

He poured the contents out into a glass – it was perhaps 6-8 ounces of a blue-gold liquid (which is why it floated, the bottle looked like it could hold almost two gallons). With a brave expression he dipped his finger into it and put the droplet hanging off to his lips. As it hit his tongue his hair frizzed and a tingle shot through him. Doubling over he choked and reached for a glass of water to wash it down.

Having a sense for it by now, he could tell right away it was magic.

Fujimoto didn't know it, but he'd stumbled upon an ancient form of magic using elixirs extracted from nature's raw power – such methods were used by _suijin_ and other magical like spirits. The bottle he found was one of a trove stolen by humans from a group of spirits hundreds of years prior. Most likely the sea had rose up with angry _suijin_, sealing the ships fate to be at the bottom of the sea for the theft committed. Such a substance drank by a normal human could be fatal, or turn them into a demon, but being between humanity and something else Fujimoto was unharmed, if not benefited.

Intrigued by his discovery he started experimenting. He left the emptied bottle in the shed and took a dropper and the small cup of liquid. Over a week he found a single drop in a tide pool caused a bloom of snails, it turned sand grains into land crabs, and seawater (depending on if it was in the surf or calm open water) into jelly fish and butterfly shells.

When Fujimoto tried to stomach more than a single drop he found it too strong for him. He could feel the tingle of the magic in his veins, but it hit him like fire, as if overpowering him. It was a similar feeling to downing more than a shot glass of whiskey. He decided against drinking the substance, and kept to playing with it externally.

When he finally got around to looking at the bottle again a week later (thinking he would put back the remaining liquid since that was the vessel it belonged in) he found there was something IN it already_. But I poured it all out,_ he thought with a puzzled look.

He looked at where he'd left it…it was in the sand, which was connected to the ocean. The shot-sized amount of liquid inside this time was yellow in color, different from what had been in it to begin with…

He gave an annoyed face of bewilderment and he looked out over the surf, thinking with his toes in the sand.

Leaving the bottle in specific places by the shore, underwater, in a tide pool, he found different colored liquids would drip into it, as if it was straining them from _thin air_.

The bottle, made by magical creatures, had the ability to extract spirit energy – this one was specifically tuned for the sea. Like leeching vanilla extract from sliced vanilla beans in vodka, the bottle acted in a very similar way. For the very life-force of the ocean, it was a magnet for it, with the proper set up.

Bribing a _tōgei_ (pottery) maker in the city, he made use of their pottery wheels and tried making other bottles of similar design (after a few failed attempts, clay-tangled hair, and blobby smushed balls of clay later). Having the _tōgei sensei_ fire them for him, he got some funny looks from the man.

"What are these for – _sake_?"

"Not quite," Fujimoto laughed nervously.

"They look like they have some kind of special purpose – otherwise you'd not go to all this trouble."

"It's for an experiment…a nature, science experiment kind of thing."

"Hummm…" The narrow eyed man wrinkled his nose and didn't question him again.

Since he was fed magic from the ocean goddess, he was able to infuse the bottles with magic of his own as he made them. He was pleased with his results – as he got a similar effect to the original bottle he'd found when he left his own creations near and in the sea. He began saving the magic tonics for some kind of later use, thinking he'd wait until they were full to play with them. With how long it took them to leech elixier – he would have to wait until at least spring of the next year.

Mammare got distracted with Earth's changing rhythms and man-caused downfalls – she missed seeing Fujimoto that end of summer of his 17th year. She was too swept up keeping the world at balance, and lost all track of time.

The spring of Fujimoto's 18th birthday came around. He was busy in his work, cleaning the shoreline, cataloging fish, and checking his potions decanting. Spring turned to summer, and he anticipated once again the hope to see the girl. For the third year in a row – she didn't show.

Turning over the shell she had given him in his fingers, his face contorted as his hair fluffed with emotion. He threw the shell he kept all those years as hard as he could out into the water, in a way to help forget her – like she never existed. He cried and figured it was for the best – she seemed like a daydream anyway.

However, he was shocked to find the shell wash up a few days later, a letter tucked inside like a message in a bottle. The shell had hit Mammare like someone throwing a pebble against their window. She felt so awful to have forgotten to see him.

She wrote in the letter a story of forgiveness and that things had been busy suddenly. She said she would visit a few weeks hence in the fall.

He wondered _how…how did she know about the shell?_ _She must be magic…_he figured, _maybe…maybe she is like me…that or she IS a spirit after all…_

Either way it didn't matter – she was coming to see him!

He beamed with joy and took the shell back to his shed, putting it on top of all his other sea treasures where it had been.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Watching the calendar, fall was just a fortnight away. The beach was still full of people during the day – for September was when the water was warmest, having had all summer to heat up in the sun. As the air cooled, the water felt all the warmer.

During one busy day when it was almost the fall equinox, Fujimoto was walking the beach scanning the tide lines for crabs caught in trash (they often got tangled in the hair of children's dolls and bits of netting), when a yell pierced his ears. A father was calling to the lifeguard – his 5 year old son and even younger sister were being sucked out by a sand-bar rip current.

Fujimoto watched from the waterline with the other onlookers as the lifeguard dove out to help them. He was almost to the children; using the rip tide itself to catch up to them (the children didn't know about swimming parallel to shore to escape it, nor were they good swimmers) when the lifeguard's leg got caught by something. It was a driftnet – and it tangled instantly around his leg, holding him back. He cursed and grumbled – he stupidly didn't have his leg-harness on for his diving knife. He was not in danger of drowning, but the children's heads were falling under the waves – and were so far out now a cargo ship coming into the port was in danger of hitting them.

Fujimoto brought the nails of one hand to his mouth – if someone didn't do something _fast_ the children would drown. He heard the lifeguard yell to shore he was caught on something. _I thought I just swept the underwater shore line, _Fujimoto gritted his teeth_, the tide must have brought it in this morning._

No one else was jumping out except the father, who was not a good swimmer himself and was not making any better progress. Fujimoto knew he had the power to help the children – he did hate humans but had a soft spot for children.

However, there were so many people around, if they saw, he wasn't sure if their reaction to seeing his magic would be positive, knowing how stupid humans were in groups. This time he had a glimmer of hope perhaps…this was his time – he would at last be recognized for doing good.

Closing his eyes with a face of confliction, Fujimoto finally darted past the crowd and out into the water.

Unable to swim fast enough to get to them in time, he brought up both hands mustering up every possible drop of magic in him. The water dripping through his fingers darkened with magic and came alive. He had used charged water before to do his bidding while diving, but this was as much as he'd ever put into it. The water indeed seemed to be a living thing this time, because he swore it looked at him. This shocked him, but he didn't have much time to think about it. He watched as the water dove like whales out for the children, catching them just in time before the ship hit them. They screamed in fear of the eyes in the water looking at them, thinking them evil spirits.

Rolling them in like surfers riding a giant wave, the children washed up on shore – a little worse for wear but alive. The water beings Fujimoto had conjured crashed into pieces on the sand, melting away into sea foam. The childrens' father ran to them. Everyone had backed away from the unnaturally large wave…and also the lifeguard coming up out of the sea next to a slightly waterlogged Fujimoto.

Shaking his hair and clothes (he had jumped in fully dressed in shirt and pants) some energy rushed back into him. They fluffed and dried unnaturally fast, his hair curling around his shoulders. The lifeguard jumped and stumbled away – but stopped and stared back at him. He was new, and had not known Fujimoto long – though everyone working there always warned him about the young man not being normal.

"What are you…?! Some kind of _yōkai_?" He backed away with a look of fear.

"Must humans think everything strange instantly _evil_?" he grumbled as he walked back up onto the beach, "I just saved all of your lives!" He pointed to the children and the lifeguard.

"Then what were those sea monsters? I saw you summon them!" A lady from the crowd called out.

"Whatever you did wasn't natural…"

The crowd mumbled amongst themselves.

"I'm not a _yōkai**," **_Fujimoto rolled his eyes. Although, now that he thought about it - with his magic abilities and how much he cursed humans, perhaps he was _becoming_ one. _Yōkai_ are demons that were once human, and though some kind of mishap became a monster. But they were mostly evil creatures, he didn't _feel_ evil…nor did he feel _not_ human.

The children were crying to their father about sea demons, and the crowd was making protective prayers, but some were getting more fueled with scared anger.

"We knew you were a freak before but- "

"Our shore is cursed by a demon _suijin_!"

"- you really are a demon aren't you?!"

"You were _born_ cursed with that hair of yours!"

"Now wait just a moment…!" Fujimoto began backing away from their advancing. His heels soon hit the surf.

"Back to the ocean where you belong _yōkai_!"

"Get out of here!"

"You don't belong here!"

His teeth clenched in unbelieving. The crowd was getting dangerous; they threw things at him voicing cleansing rites to scare away demons. He held up his arms to shield his face. He turned finally and disappeared into the water, not coming up again.

Everyone stood in silence for a moment, an eerie calm coming over the shore. Then they cheered for warding off the 'evil spirit'.

They found his elixir bottles that were by the tide pools and shed - then smashed them…spilling the potions into the water. What the people didn't see was life spring from where they hit the water, new shiny fish and jellies born from the liquids.

Almost crying and seething with hate, Fujimoto swam off, grabbing an elixir bottle from where it sat underwater by the continental shelf off shore. He swam as fast as he could out of the bay, not looking back. He didn't know where he was going, he didn't care. He was sick of _everything_; he just wanted to get away.

On his way out to sea a fishing trawler crossed his path. Dredging up the ocean floor, practically raping life from the sea as it tore up everything in its path to get to schools of valuable fish. He was too drained of magic to do anything against it (he barely had enough to form his breathing bubble) but he took up the bottle in his hands. In his current state, he could have turned the elixir of life into one of death with how he was about to throw it at the ship in pure, irrational, incensed anger…

But before he could, a bright light came up behind him, and a _large_ glowing hand blocked his path.

Fujimoto gasped – and realized the sea around was glowing with golden fish. All the hate had flown out of him and was replaced with fear and wonderment. He held the bottle up to his body timidly as if it was as security blanket, eyes widening with fear. Mustering up courage, he carefully turned around.

There in the water before him was a beautiful woman, a _HUGE_ beautiful woman…and instantly made him think '_Suijin__-sama'_ …the water goddess of the ocean - protector of fisherman , mothers, and childbirth…and of course overseer of ocean creatures.

He stared for a moment, in shock and awe. _It - it has to be a goddess_, he was thinking. _But - she looks so…familiar._

His instincts to the supernatural had been growing keener over the years, so he trusted his heart in when he meekly said, "M…Mammare is that _you_?"

The large figure smiled brightly, and brought her hands up in the water under him. He fell against the water pressure of being pulled closer to her face, and was sitting cupped in her palms by the time he was in front of her eyes. She talked with a timeless, motherly calmness.

"You recognize me Fujimoto-san," She said, pleased.

"It really is you…!" He blinked, still stunned, "how…how can that be?"

"I disguised myself as a human girl, to be able to meet you. My full name is _Granmammare_ – western for _Great Mother Ocean_. I am a goddess of the sea."

To think, _he had known her name all those years_ and never thought to look up what it meant.

"…It's been over three years." He said in a tone of 'it's been a long time'.

She looked sad, "I am sorry, I did not mean to forget about our meetings – things have been difficult for my ocean. The times we spent in the summer on the beach were always a happy time for me, I did not forget them."

He smiled laughing with amazement at his situation, and an uncontrollable happiness that welled up in him to see his friend again…and to discover she indeed was a water spirit – a goddess even.

"Fujimoto," His name rang through the water; he liked hearing her say it…but this time she turned her tone to gentle authoritativeness, "I have been watching you – you have accepted the magic of the sea. Your heart is so tied to the ocean that the magic I have been giving you did not upset the balance of nature. However, you can't fully use magic _and_ be human at the same time."

He stood up in her hands listening, absorbing every word.

She pointed to the bottle he held, "You even discovered the ancient elixir magic used by water _suijin_ - the same power I wield but concentrated into physical form – and you were able to, with what little magic you had, control it. For you to have done these things alone is a showing of your heart's strength."

She continued, "You must make a choice – now that you are on the cusp between man and boy you must choose which world you want to be in. Once you make the choice you can not go back."

He breathed in deeply and asked, "What would I _become_?"

"Something not human. A creature of magic and of the ocean, a sea wizard if you will."

He blinked eyes wide under his locks of hair…such things he was hearing he could scarcely believe. _Choose which world I want to be in?! What kind of question is that? The choice is more than obvious which I would prefer!_

She continued talking seriously, "I could use your talents. You could help me with keeping the ocean's power in balance – with how things are today with the state of the world, I am having a hard time doing it all myself."

"I want to help you!" he blurted out smiling.

She smiled back at his young enthusiasm, "I am glad you want to, but please, know the seriousness of your decision. You can never go back to the human world, or the land. You would be tied to the sea as I am."

He was nervous but was just able to say "And what would become… of _us_? Would we still be friends," and he added more softly, "…and could we ever be any more than that?"

She was taken aback. Even after him finding out what she truly is he still wanted to be with her. She felt a welling up of emotion she had not felt in centuries, and replied practically blushing, "Yes we of course would be friends…and if you became a creature of the sea we _could_ be _more_ than that as well..."

He felt validated, "Would it be out of line to…declare that I love you Granmammare?" his heart raced.

"But Fujimoto-san," She smiled wisely, "Your heart was always with the ocean…however, you did not expect it to love you back…did you?"

He blushed deeply with wide eyes and a fluffing of hair.

"Fujimoto, would you be my king of the ocean? Knowing the terms, would you help me keep balance in this world offset by humans, and restore life to the seas?"

He paused only for a moment, and then nodded firmly, "I accept – with every fiber of my being I accept!"

She beamed, his heart _was_ true, "…I will give you until sunrise to make your peace with the land. Come back here to me before the light of dawn breaks, my darling." She pressed her lips, as soft as manta ray wings, against the side of his head with the utmost gentleness. He felt weak from emotion, but was able to wave goodbye to her, her long trailing fishtail dress disappearing into the depths of the ocean.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

With the cover of dark Fujimoto swam back to shore. He would have been exhausted by now, but his heart was racing with an emotion he didn't know very well in conjunction with another - _love_.

Coming up onto the land it was like returning to an alien world. _This will no longer be my home, _he thought_, I will no longer be tied to this place…_

He found all his other bottles destroyed, and was not surprised_. I will make more; I will create better and stronger elixirs and keep the ocean in balance with them. I'll be doing something meaningful, actually impacting nature. Instead of just taking care of this one tiny plot of sand…_

He gathered up a few small belongs - books, clothes, tools, the shell - and put them in a canvas bag. He took his savings and left them in an envelope with a note on Kashi's kitchen table. One of the few people that had ever been kind to him – Kashi was the only person he could think to leave it to; he wouldn't need it where he was going anyway.

However he kept just enough in his pocket -there had been something in town that caught his eye in the spring. He was not one for coveting material possessions, but a sharp, modern suit in a western style had been calling to him from the window of a storefront - he could never justify spending so much on clothes, but now there was no reason to save the money.

…

Feeling worthy of the title _Suiou_ (king of the sea) clad in the new blue / white striped jacket and scarlet cravat, Fujimoto stood in the surf - shoes, suit and all, taking one last look back at humanity.

_Goodbye mankind, _he thought without remorse.

He disappeared into the waves, which were warming with the glow of the coming dawn.

Mammare was exactly where she said she was going to be. Coming up to her, she smiled sweetly but always wisely, and put a hand up to her red lips, "It suits you."

He looked at his clothing a bit awkwardly, then back to her recomposing his confidence, "I am glad you approve," he tried to move his hair from his face.

"You are ready?"

He nodded.

"Come," she motioned.

As he came closer she cupped him in her hands, curling her fingers inwards. When she opened them again he was in a leathery bubble. His heart was true, so she was able to use the old magic on him for the transformation.

She brought the bubble to her lips and kissed it, causing it to burst.

When he emerged he could feel a massive influx of power.

The soul of the ocean flowed through every fiber of his body. He arched his back and cried out for a moment as he felt it sear through his veins like fire. His clothes and hair fluffed with magic, as soft and weightlessly dry as in a gentle breeze. It was what he had felt slowly building the past 3 years, but ten-fold – and no longer held back, like a dam breaking free.

It was his heart, so tied to the sea as Mammare had already seen, being allowed to break free of its human blood that gave him the most of his power – Mammare had only nurtured it with magic like watering a withering plant.

Now…_now_ he truly felt no longer human, despite the fact he retained a humanoid form, he knew, he was no longer was one…one of _them_. He had rid himself of that heritage.

He collapsed in her hands. She knew he'd need a moment of rest.

…

He came to with golden fish rushing past him. Mammare was out in open water, far from shore, traveling with Fujimoto tucked into the crook of her neck and surrounded by billowing magenta hair. He looked around, and Mammare glanced down at him, "Good morning," she said. Indeed, the rays of dawn trickled down through the waters surface some 30 feet above them.

"_Ohayo_," he nodded back, an uncontrollable smile gracing his lips.

It was indeed a bright morning - the first of his new life...

...a life where he was not a part of a loathed society.

...

...

One wrap-up chapter left. :) Thank you so much to my readers for your input! I've had a lot of fun writing this!


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

It was a dream, like he was looking into someone else's life.

The ocean, it was his, under his care, protection, and control.

He felt like an underwater rock star.

…

To help Mammare in her work, Fujimoto needed a study. She was a sea goddess and needed nothing more than the ocean, but he needed someplace to organize and mix his elixirs, not to mention sleeping and all that.

In that his power was aided by organizing natural energies into physical form was not a crutch – no _suijin_ could be expected to perform magic the same way as an ocean goddess. The fact he'd come this far already on his own was just a testament to his ability. What abilities he had would soon become invaluable to Mammare.

They right away chose a coral field-scape, out on the continental shelf of a mid-ocean island. Together they infused it with magic and crafted a home out of it, complete with a bubbled off dry interior.

Fujimoto walked through the bubble shield, checking out the empty dry interior. He brushed off his jacket and marveled at how within seconds it was like he had never been in water, he was as slickly water resistant as a freshly preened duck. He turned and saw Mammare shirking herself down to gracefully walk inside. Even in the dry air her hair flowed as if in water.

"This doesn't count as 'dry' …?"

"No, this is an enchanted space, and still surrounded by the wetness of the ocean, you will never dry out here."

He nodded, he had to make sure he got these new rules of his existence into memory, "So…what would happen if I was to step on dry land, out of curiosity?"

"If you let yourself dry out straying too far from the surf, it might not be pleasant for you."

He stared at her for a moment, and then smirked, "Well, I'll just have to avoid that then, that shouldn't be too hard. I have no reason to back there."

She giggled at his nose upturned pouting expression.

…

In the first few days he had been so focused on working he forgot to eat. He soon realized on the fifth day of his new life he hadn't eaten a thing. Slumping over the sand he had been adding magic to, he heard his stomach growl unpleasantly. (He had been playing with trying to make glass bottles…he hadn't gotten one right yet but he figured with practice he could figure it out.)

Mammare, receptive as always, had seen this hours before, and at that moment of his crashing she came through the bubble shield with her hands cupped together. The place was bare – it looked like any new house you just move into. He had just made the table he was sitting at out of coral the other day. She pointed to the bowl and spoon he had been holding sand in earlier (it was clean now) - he passed it to her.

She sprinkled in what had been in her hands - like cereal flakes plankton and other microorganisms rained into the bowl. He blinked staring.

"Even with your elixirs you must remember to eat, my dear," she smiled.

Feeling embarrassed to forget such a basic thing, he peeked into the bowl, "…plankton?"

"I dried them using magic, they are kind of crunchy like this, it's a nice texture," she pushed the bowl towards him, then poured some cold seawater over them like it was milk.

He was so hungry he could have eaten the TABLE. He'd been drinking seawater those past few days, and it tasted no different then freshwater; the salt had no effect on him. So he decided to trust in that since he wasn't human any more, such a thing Mammare was offering him would taste agreeable. _Better than chemical ridden human food anyway, _he figured.

And he was right; in fact it tasted just like cereal – kind of like corn chex.

"That was surprising," He said satiated, having made short work of the meal.

She smiled from where she was sitting across the table, head crooked on one of her hands in a lady like pose.

…

Fujimoto was true to his word. Within a few weeks time he had crafted a slew of magic-infused bottles and got them set to begin straining. He had been using the elixir he'd stored in the one surviving original bottle to fuel him those weeks. With some early guidance from Mammare on what kind of things he could do to keep the oceans in balance, was on his way to being worthy of the title _Suiou-sama._

Mammare had been able to stay around the Pacific with him for almost a month, but soon was saying her goodbyes, things were restless on the other side of the world; she could feel it in the ocean currents.

"I must take my magic there, they need me."

He knew this was coming, _damn humans…making life so hard for her…_he thought with displeasure. In that she had been around this long at one time…_that_ made him pleased.

"You'll never be able to stay in once place too long …will you?" He said with some sadness.

"Water is always flowing, ever changing," she walked up close to him and took his hands in hers. He melted in her grip like ice over a fire, "However, the _strongest currents_ always flow back to the _same places_," She brought his hands close to her chest.

He smiled, hoping he didn't look too dumb with happiness. She then did something that made him bristle with nervous surprise – she slowly leaned in closer to him …and kissed him, her lips sinking into his. Eyes wide with shock, he froze and fluffed like a cat threatened with a water sprayer. But with the moment sinking in, he embraced it, loosening slowly - and once again he was putty in her hands. He let the kiss be the passionate goodbye she was meaning for. When she withdrew he stood there with some loose hairs and drained expression of someone who might have just survived a hurricane.

She could see he did not find that disagreeable, and was relieved, "I was worried you found me threatening, you have not kissed me once since joining the sea."

"I…no! It's…it's just…I didn't know – that kind of thing was…_allowed_…?"

"Allowed? Fujimoto, I may be a sea goddess; sacred to sailors, a _suijin_ to be respected - but remember, _you_ have my approval. A ceremony in a way a human might think of it never came to pass, but you are my husband," she brought her face close to his once again, this time taking his hands and placing them on her waist romantically, "…_all_ of me is allowed."

He swallowed, and hoped that tightness in his chest was his heart restarting after skipping some beats.

Leading her outside to send her off, he mustered some confidence and pulled her back to him for a hug and another kiss as she was turning to go. Giving him a pleased smile, she gave his hair a few primps with her silky fingers, before floating away, returning to her true size, golden fish flocking around her. He waved goodbye, and watched her leave until the very last of her glow faded in the waves.

When those currents washed in again could not come soon enough.

…

He embroiled himself in his studies, and making his home look like –well…a home.

When she returned months later, she was surprised at how cozy the place was becoming – and that he had already prepared many elixirs. However he needed some way to get his magic to more then just that small swatch of ocean. The seas were a large place, and Fujimoto could not be expected to have Mammare take him, or get to places that needed him by _swimming_. Even his water 'demons' (of sorts) he had created to aid him, were not a suitable method of transport.

"Why not have a ship to travel with?" She inquired.

"Seems like such a human thing to ride on _top _of the water," he said with a bit of a snide tone.

"Not that kind," She smiled knowingly shaking her head, "Something of the sea."

She came back a few days later, "Come dear, I have a surprise for you."

She showed him out the top entrance by the shoulders, to unveil an enchanted yacht sitting at the end of long entry walkway like it was an underwater dock. The vessel was brightly painted with red, white and blue, with wood paneling on its small deck. Instead of a propeller, from its keel sprang four flippers, as if it was a prehistoric plesiosaur.

He blinked in shock, "Did you…_make_ this, for _me_?"

"I resurrected a shipwreck and gave it some love, all the ship needs is a bit of magic to bring it alive – some of your elixirs should be plenty for that."

He went over and inspected it, "It's marvelous!" He poked his head into the side door like a kid in a candy store.

She beamed, "I am glad you approve, it should aid you in helping the seas, so you can cover more ground on your own time."

He took a bottle of his strongest elixir, and spread it over the ship like a rain of glowing glitter. It glowed for a moment with a gleam of magic, the flippers becoming soft and supple and the lights on the top deck glowing in colors like the wingtips of an airplane. It motioned like a dog shaking off as it sputtered alive, and then settled still.

He named the craft _Ubazame-go_, which meant 'Basking Shark', because somehow it reminded him of one.

The boat was very special to him – since it was Mammare who had made it.

Even aided by an enchanted flipper-propelled yacht to travel; the sea was vast and endless. He worked around the clock, mixing his potions and giving life to empty or dead patches of ocean. Fish, jellies, starfish, coral, sharks, seaweed, crabs…he soon had an elixir for almost anything. As he was working he got to see unimaginable things, and cataloged and studied every new creature he came across. He had achieved his dream – he was doing what he'd always wanted to do. Time passed and he settled into his routines and task at hand, it was hard work, but something he took great pride, and joy, in.

Fujimoto was sad in that Mammare could not always be with him; as expected she was traveling the seas faster than he could ever hope to travel in any kind of vehicle. But at least her visits were not as far between as every summer, he was thankful for that.

Also, as time went on, they became closer; he gained confidence in her intensifying advances, and soon was embracing it, letting her do as she pleased with him. He relished her touch; sweeter and more intoxicating than any elixir. They were in love, it was not a normal 'marriage' by any standards, but indeed, that was what they were.

He did his work well – so well in that she gave him her utmost thanks - because of him she was able to enjoy her ocean for the first time in centuries. It was like a weight being lifted off her shoulders. She could roll and play in its waters teeming with life. There was nothing he enjoyed more than seeing her happy, and the more he could restore her ocean to its former glory, the better…

…

Many years later, it was in this time of increased stability, she whispered in his ear, drawing his hair back as she leaned on his shoulder from behind.

He jumped and nearly spilled the cup of tea elixir he was sipping at the time, "We're…we're having _children_!? - And _how many_ …?!"

; )

…

…

…

English translation of Fujimoto's theme from the Ponyo Image Album:

_Where did you throw away your dreams?  
When did you forget your love?  
No more tears will come from these eyes  
The people living in pain  
Atop this exhausted planet  
Have forgotten all about that thing called "hope"…  
The city overflows with Gods  
Who will not guide you  
Where can I return?_

_The ocean that envelops everything_

_  
Is a mother who forgives all –_

_  
And that's why I return _﻿_to it, alone._

…

…

…

Much love for Fujimoto and Granmammare,

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this! :)


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